Seattle n such

Here are my travels to date in Washington state


and here's a new movie... I've been testing some camera mounts so as to not have to ride one handed to compile footage.. (hence, no actual footage while moving from the off road adventures..) So, I compiled my test footage into this morning commute montage.. complete with a soundtrack by Pennywise.. enjoy!

I think you know what to do with the big 3 by this point...

Dual Sport, the photos

One of the other things that amazed me this weekend was that you can take a 600lb bike, like the GSA, and beat the hell out of it all day in the dirt, then head home on the superslab for a smooth-as-silk ride! I felt, at times, like I was honestly breaking stuff, and the fact that I didn't truly amazes me.

I'm working on a map-photo to highlight some of the Washington state exploring so far. It seems like every time I go out for a ride, it just keeps getting better.. I still have to ride 100 miles to get anywhere, but what the hell.
Let's just say the first person to come out here to do a multi-day mini-tour with me is going to get several days of nothing but the good stuff! ... That, and a sore butt.


Don't miss the movie.. The link is right below this post.. look for the big 3!

Somewhere along FS25 I think.. This time I also rode the less populated southern portion leading into Carson.



..Part of the same road..


Here's the Rally site in Stevenson, WA.. there were over 400 sportbike riders here for the previous three days.. their rally ended, ours started, and us 25 had the place to ourselves.


The view from my tent.



View from the other side of my tent



"Coach" Remy Stroud, going over some stuff in his two part (trillion-hour long) clinic called "two ways to ride a dual sport". . interesting stuff.



An instructor demonstrating something..



Time to hit the trails!


Viewpoints that you just can't get from a car.. or a sportbike.



Some of the dudes and their rides..



More..



That's Mt. Hood, I think.. or Mt. Adams.. ??




Don't know what Mt that is way off in the distance..



You can barely tell in this photo, but here's the hill-side traverse in action..



At least he LOOKS like a pro... kidding.. this guy's a great rider and only been at it for 2 years, IIRC



So I left Sat after work at 6pm to try to get halfway down there.. got about 100mi before I got cold and tired, so I camped at Lewis and Clark State park for the night.. nothing special. Sun morning I was up and on the road by 7am to head across twelve, down 25 to Carson, and across 14 at the Columbia River Gorge.. A gorgeous morning of riding.. and barely a hint of traffic! After some clinics and seminars on Sunday, I got some rest and was back at it for the Dirtbike course at 9am Monday morning.. It went all day to about 5:30.. then I had to hightail-it back to Seattle for work the next morning. It was a long day of gettin dirty, taking bumps, and standing on the pegs, so I was certainly not too thrilled about the 200 mile trip home.. I finally rolled in about 10:30pm.. All things considered I guess it wasn't too high of a price to pay for a dirtbike course and a kick ass trail ride!

Hmmmm... what's next?.. Where's my damn maps....

Dual Sport, the movie

My legs are so sore today that it's a miracle I could even walk around at work, and I'm so exhausted I'm surprised that I'm able to present the film. A question for you to ponder while watching... Ever wonder why all of the clips shot while moving are from the left side of the bike?

Without further adieu.... (click the big 3!)

Dual Sport

Every time I ridden off road so far, I've been utterly wowed by the remote and private beauty of the land we're riding. Dual Sport riding allows for some pretty awesome experiences that many people, motorcyclists or not, don't typically get. While on our 50(ish) mile ride yesterday, I discovered the location of possibly the most amazing campsite on the planet.. OK, maybe not the planet, but I will most definitely be going back to camp there.. Miles from a paved road and certainly no traffic, the road winds up and across the hillsides into the heart of the mountain ranges. Then, perched seemingly on top of the world is this beautiful little grassy pad with sweeping views almost 360 degrees. Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and St. Helens are all within these mountain ranges. I'm hooked on dual sports.


In other news, the rally was pretty lame. In fact, if compared to the GS Rally, I'd even call it pathetic. I'll save you the rant, but suffice it to say that my dirt ride and completing the MSF's Intermediate Dirtbike school were the highlights by far.. Oh, and the demo ride on the BMW G650Xmoto..

It was an exhausting couple of days and I'm looking forward to a little rest..
Photos and the movie are on the way!

Columbia River

I'm registered for the intermediate (dirt) MSF course being held at the Northwest Dual Sport rally this weekend at the Columbia River Gorge. There are some clinics n stuff going on , and Triumph and BMW demo rides early sunday morning that I'd like to be there for, (not that I need to demo ride any new bikes since I already have the best motorcycle on the planet) so I think I'm going to see how far I can get tonight after work. I figure I can make St. Helens.. camp out there and be that much closer to the rally Sunday morning ;) Wish I could take a couple more days and go explore some of the roads in northeastern Oregon that I've been hearing so much about.. next time..

I'll be sure to take some photos, and stay tuned for the post early next week!

soggy seattle

Just to squash any potentially romantic ideas you may have about motorcycle riding in the pacific northwest, I rode to work in the pouring rain this morning. One down, and many more to come.. after all, this is summer.

As a testament to my gear, though, when I shed my outer later on arrival at work, I was pleased not to find any soggy bits underneath. Not a spot.

Cascade Hwy, The Movie...

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I had visions of grandeur for this film, but whatever.. it's still cool! Try to ignore my finger being in the first shot, and enjoy!

Click the big 3 to watch the movie!

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Northern Cascades, 784 miles; two days

Alisa finally decided to leave Seattle to head back to Connecticut, and I conveniently convinced her to wait until my days off (a mere three work days after the GS rally) to leave. With her days planned out and thousands of miles ahead, we decided that I'd accompany her on the first leg of her journey up ad over the Northern Cascade highway. We met up with Ellen from Ride West BMW and Alisa's friend and former co-Edelweiss tour guide, Karen, who would come along for for half of the first day. We were planning to make it to the border of Idaho to camp then I'd head back to Seattle the next day..


Not only did Alisa an I end up with the same bike, but she's now completing the northern portion of the USA loop.. picking up where I left off. She rode with me on the first leg of my journey, so it's only fitting that I do the same in return.. on my ride she was the only girl.. this time, I was the only boy! ... and what can I say, we all have impeccable taste in motorcycles.
(ps.. those girls.. Ellen and Karen.. are FAST. I'd be willing to bet they could out-ride just about anyone I know.. including myself. seriously.)

It wasn't long before we got to Washington Pass.. only about 5500' in elevation, but it was certainly gorgeous.


Down the road a bit is Ross lake and Diablo Lake.. this area made me feel like we were in the Alps or something!


.. see what I mean?

oops, out of order, but this one's actually from WA pass.. check out that HUGE sweeper.. it's 'suggested' at 30mph.. I personally found it much more enjoyable a bit faster ;)

.. like I said.. Alps, or something..

Alisa kicked a couple little girls off of these so we could have our fun.. My form is much better than Alisa's, if I do say so myself.

We said goodbye to the other girls after lunch and continued through some of the hottest, most arid lands I've ridden through so far. Come to find out, once you get over the Cascades, Washington State is high desert. My thermometer (which tops out at 100 degrees) was off the chart. Eventually we climbed back up into some hills and quickly decided that since we liked this climate much better and were exhausted, we'd find a cool camp site and call it quits.

We talked about just turning down one of the forest road and riding into the woods to camp, but came across one that was designated with a camping sign.

We happily turned off and continued winding the gravel switchbacks up a hill for 5 miles or so, and were eventually pleasantly surprised by an oasis of a campground.. Nothing fancy, but a couple of sites that backed up to a little creek (Deadman Creek, we later learned), an outhouse and a little lake. Perfect.. A true score. In fact, it reminded me very much of the first camp Matthew and I set up in WV on our trip last year, except way more secluded...



...And with MOOSE!

So Alisa and I said goodbye this morning and I continued southward to an Indian Reservation and some very sweet, secluded mountain-pass roads. I couldn't believe it, actually, how gorgeous it was and I was all alone! I'm certainly not complaining.

It was a virtually perfect day of riding for me.. gorgeous weather, and scarce traffic.. I only had to pass about a dozen people (as opposed to the 100 people we passed yesterday).. a dozen passes in 400 miles.. not bad! All in all it was 784 miles in two days, and the most beautiful and thrilling roads I've ridden in Washington to date.

It's been great having Alisa around and a total blast riding with her. Have a good ride, Alisa!



Ok, now the bad news... It seems I had a bit of an engineering shortcoming in the design of my tool storage tube.. Guess I shouldn't have made it out of plastic after all as the exhaust gas make short work of the end of the tube that was near the pipe.. Oops.. oh well, just have to make one out of metal, I suppose.


... and for the encore, I'm working on a compilation movie from the Cascades ride.. I'll post it on youtube and just link to it from Motopsychosis so ya'all don't have to wait for it to load all the time.. COMING SOON...

das farkelizen

Alright, admittedly I sort of stole this idea and used alternate materials to keep the cost down, but all things considered I think it worked out pretty damn nice..

Can you spot the additional storage that now houses 1/3 of my (extremely inclusive) tool kit?

How 'bout now?

Pretty sweet , eh?

A hanging bracket bolted to the frame holds those nice lookin' double hose clamps..

The tube is just a 4" diameter piece of ABS pipe with compression caps on the ends..All in all probably 3-4 liters of storage.


Tighten those wing nuts to compress an inner rubber seal and force it outwards against the inside of the tube... creating not only a secure cap, but a weatherproof seal, too! Brilliant!
BMW should've offered this thing as a factory accessory!

The only thing I have yet to thoroughly test is the Clarence of the rear wheel under full suspension compression.. I set the rear shock to the spongiest setting and performed a highly scientific bounce test, however, I'm curious of the compression while riding over big rocks or logs or something.. I suppose I'll find out the answer to that question sooner or later..



In other news, it looks like Alisa will be hangin around Seattle for another day or two, and coincidentally, I've got a couple of days off ;) I'll be riding over the Northern Cascade Hwy to eastern Washington (possibly Idaho) on Thursday, camping out over there for the night and finally completing that loop that I designed a couple of weeks ago!

Stay tuned...

Gelande Strasse!

With my return to the 'real world', and the Pacific Northwest GS Rally now behind me, I'm left with a plethora of swirling daydreams of global circumnavigation, a new set of dirt riding skills with which I need practice, an affirmation that this particular motorcycle is without a doubt the most capable adventure motorcycle ever made.. by anyone.. ever, and more pressingly, a feverish desire to get some sleep!

The following are some of the visual records I've returned with, and some description and commentary will follow in the coming days..


Little did Alisa and I know that we bought almost exactly the same bike!.. The farkles vary a bit between the two, but it's pretty funny that we ended up with these..


While Alisa went through the Jimmy Lewis off road clinic, I went out to Long Beach for my own private little sand-riding clinic.


Here's the man himself, Jimmy Lewis, demonstrating how it's done.


Man, he's good.


..and Alisa testing her skills on the figure 8


She scored a new (used) tire and we got a private session in field tire swapping. I'll be changing my own tires from now on ;)
(and if you're worried about balancing,, check out Dynabeads.. cool stuff.


Alisa and I in the 'novice' session on friday.. dirt riding is, in many ways, completely opposite from what we have been taught and practice on the street..


The man, Wayne, of South Sound BMW, explaining the next obstacle..


Plenty of people "got off" their bikes this weekend.. this one happened after locking up the front coming off of the logs..


..at the novice clinic..


They dont look like much from this angle, but that's the log obstacle.. three logs to ride over at the same time.. the fasster you go, the smoother it is.. and if you goose it just a bit to unload the fron end right beforehand, you can even avoid any front tire contact all together ;) We're not sure, but Alisa and I both think that we had at least one run in which wee essentially wheelied over the logs..


The baddest HP2 on the planet. 'nough said.


..crossing the sound...


..and another..


.. The GSs once again...

The other part of the novice clinic that I have no photographic record of was the skid control section.. picture the gravel forest road with an upwards cliff to one side, a downwards cliff on the other, and intentionally locking up the rear at about 20mph going downhill... fun stuff. 20 doesn't sounds very fast, but gravel is like riding on marbles.. they just keep rolling with you so it takes a good bit to get a 600 pound bike stopped. Gets a bit squirrelly and the rear end starts to go sideways, but the same principle applies.. just look where ou want to go, not where you want to crash.. I think my longest skid was at least 25 feet or so..

Great weekend and can't wait for the next!.. also can't wait to get some knobbies on the GS to further enhance my new set of off road riding skills ;)

By the way, I also watched a presesntation by Mike Paull of Globe Riders, and had breakfast with him the next morning.. if you don't know who he is, check out Globe Riders on the net.. these guys (he and the infamous Helge Pedersen) have ridden just about everywhere there is to ride. Sadly, though, Mike is now limited to his custom GS/sidecar rig as he lost a leg in a drunk driver crash in Russia a few years ago.


'Till next time..